All posts by SwanneSong

I began blogging in 2008 as a kind of journal of my travels as a full-time solo RVer. Over the years it has evolved into more of a record of both my inner and outer travels and personal reflections about my experiences. With a new focus I have created SwanneSong to give my voice to things I consider important, and to provide a perspective for others to consider. I have added a new career to my adventure, as a Realtor in the Tucson Metro Area.

I’m not a automotive connoisseur, so I wouldn’t normally be interested in scoping out “how they build a limousine”. Recently, however, I’ve been somewhat of a captive to my travel partner who likes to explore oddities while traveling. And he does like cars, and scooters. My knowledge of such things is growing.

As part of our itinerary, he planned a visit to a limo fabricating place listed on the online site for Roadside America.

LimoLand is located in Springfield, MO and is a small shop that produces extravagant and elegant limousines “to order”. Here are some of the photos I took of work in progress. Our “tour guide” and “chief in charge of everything” graciously took time out of her busy schedule to show us around. We appreciate it!

Beginning the stretch –back end

Beginning the stretch – front end

Adding vertical structure

Technology in the rear

Mercedes Sprinter Limo

Center panel in place

Two Hundred Inch Stretch

Seating option with flashing lights (this just happened to be red)

Workroom – where the conversions take place

Custom woodwork – for overhead mirrors

Woodwork drying areaReady for painting

Custom Bar

Bar installed with lights (happened to be green)

Another bar configuration

LimoLand Banner in Entry

The LimoLand website is http://www.limoland.com/. Take a look around at their inventory and order your very own party wagon!

Note: For Eric – we met while eating lunch at the Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, PA on June 17, 3015. All the best to you!

Have you ever heard of homes and shelters being made of sandbags and barbed wire, that can withstand the forces of winds and earthquakes ? Last weekend I had the chance to see how that’s done.

I’ve always been interested in alternative architecture, and when I had the opportunity to visit Cal-Earth in Hesperia, CA at one of their monthly open-houses, I was amazed and delighted with what I experienced and learned about them. There is so much to say about this organization and it’s vision, the vision begun by Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili.

Nader Khalili began Cal-Earth in 1991. From the Cal-Earth website, “Born in Iran as one of nine children, his quest was to empower the world’s poor and refugees to build homes using the earth under their feet. Khalili’s son Dastan, and daughter Sheefteh, are now working to carry forward his vision and quest throughout the world. He was a prominent American leader on the value of ethically based architecture, where the needs of the homeless are considered above all else.”

When I began an undergraduate architecture curriculum I went home and told my parents that I wanted to build homes for people who were homeless and/or could not afford the kinds of homes most Americans lived in. As it turned out that path did not open for me, but I did become a social worker, caring about families and their needs. So it is no surprise that I am excited to know about this venture in Southern California that is global in nature.

The open house began with a presentation describing the structures, their different functions by size and shape, and the materials and construction methods used in creating quick shelter. A small structure can be made by a team of five to six people within a day. In addition, larger permanent structures, using the same principles of construction can be built that withstand the elements of nature.

Khalili’s daughter addressed the gathering of about 60 people regarding her father’s background and his vision for providing shelter for all people. She received word that day that 40 superadobe structures of an orphanage in Khatmandu, Nepal survived the recent earthquake there. Cal-Earth has developed structures that withstand the dynamics of earthquakes, and San Bernardina County California has approved construction plans and permits for homes using the methods prescribed by Cal-Earth.

The Pegasus Children’s Project, from the UK, supports the orphanage. You can read their earthquake report on their web site. Although the earth structures were not harmed, other structures are in need of repair, and they are requesting funds for that.

While the Cal-Earth web site and Facebook page say almost everything about these structures, they can’t tell you how to experience being in one. There is such an organic and grounded feeling I have when I enter one of these domes. To me it feels a bit like camping out in a tent, or being in a cave – even a big cave. The openings that are incorporated let the light in and create a very earthy, comfortable feeling to me. The creative possibilities are endless!

Anyone interested in learning how to build using the sandbag and barbed wire construction methods can take a class either on-site, or via the internet beginning on May 11, 2015. There are various levels of workshops and training available.

For more information I urge you to visit the Cal-Earth website and visit their page on Facebook – Cal-Earth Institute.

I spent the past weekend camping at Roper Lake, a beautiful state park in the southeastern part of Arizona. The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm – very different from some of the more recent trips I’ve been on.

I was amazed by all the different birds residing there; a flock of yellow-headed blackbirds, redwing blackbirds, cardinals, vermillion flycatchers, black ducks, doves, and others that I didn’t see or couldn’t identify. One evening I walked over to the lake and recorded these wonderful creatures as they began to settle for the evening.The only sound I didn’t capture was the deep “ribbits” of the bullfrogs. They sang all night!

I wanted to share the video here, but the file type is not allowed on WordPress…(unless I upgrade to a paid version.)

But here are some photos I took on the way home. I absolutely love the ocotillos when they are in bloom, and now is the season! I should create a journal of “photos through a dirty windshield”, which is what these were taken through. It seems I take a LOT of photos from the passenger seat!

Back in October I sent in the required information for participating in the Heart of Texas Recumbent Tricycle Rally in Austin, TX at the end of February 2015, an event sponsored by Austin’s Easy Street Recumbents. I had great anticipation of a wonderful time riding my recumbent trike and meeting other trike riders.

I’ve had the good fortune to find a great friend and travel companion who also has a recumbent trike. He and I headed to Austin earlier this week, and after two full days of driving we arrived in the Austin area with 35 degree weather that has lasted until today. No sun, drizzle, wind and icy streets – Blech!!! And therefore no riding to speak of.

On Friday, after registering we ventured to the Veloway Park in Austin to ride the 3.13 circuit in these weather conditions. Once around the path was all that I was interested in doing, mostly because I’d come so far to ride, I just HAD to. In Tucson I ride in a group that rides together on Saturdays, led by a fellow who won’t lead a ride unless the temperature is greater than, or equal to 59 degrees. I like his style!

The rally continued on Saturday with some class time, learning about tricycle maintenance and repairs, followed by picture-taking of the group and individuals, some lunch, and a raffle (I bought $20 worth of tickets, but was unrewarded for that, except for the charity my contribution went to.) My friend won heel straps for his feet to keep them on the trike pedals. Some folks had their photos taken in this side-by-side recumbent, “Red Bull”, complete with steer-head hats. Clever and funny – we didn’t do that!

Rides that had been planned for today were re-scheduled for yesterday; however, the weather was not conducive to a safe ride, so they were cancelled. Not wishing to socialize the rest of the day, we left. Today, the trike rodeo that was planned for yesterday will take place, in hopefully better weather. We will not be participating, and will leave the area to visit some folks east of Austin for a few days before heading back to Tucson.

So much for lemons…

Now comes the lemonade part.

My friend likes to visit unusual places and some of them are found from the TV show, “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives”. One such place is the Counter Café near downtown Austin, a very small breakfast and lunch restaurant with a counter and a wall for several small tables for two. It was packed. I had a grilled pimiento cheese sandwich and my friend had scrambled eggs with crab cakes. Yum on both accounts! We spoke with the restaurant owner, Nick, who was born and raised in Tucson and who attended the University of Arizona. He was at hand when Guy Fierri, the show’s host, did a taste test of the café’s kitchen. We hope to return in a few months. (http://countercafe.com/)

As we were leaving the restaurant’s very tight parking area we discovered a retaining wall for one of the nearby residences. It was a very eclectic and humorous offering, as you can see in these photos. A nice surprise!

We also have been parked in a camping spot at McKinney Falls State Park, about 12 miles from the rally site. It’s a beautiful state park, with large trees and well-managed sites. Today we walked to the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls. I took several photos, and found a surprise in one of them! See below.

Tomorrow we head farther east to visit some of my friend’s family and maybe find some warmer weather. We’ll be back in Tucson by week’s end.

Well, since yesterday I’ve learned to add another feature to the appearance of this blog – The Gallery that I titled “From the Road”.

As many of my posts are related to traveling I decided to create photo features of some of the places I’ve been.

The current collage is from the Gone With the Wind museum in Cleburne, Texas. You can read more about it here. The museum houses the collection of a Gone With the Wind “fanatic”, who I’m certain is not the only one!

It is well past midnight as I write this. I’ve been experimenting with various themes available at WordPress for presenting this blog to friends, family and the general public. For now I’ve settled on this new look. I don’t know how long it will be before I decide to change it again. The previous theme seemed ‘dated’ somehow, and I am observing that my posts might be more interesting, or eye-catching if placed onto a different framework.

For those of you who follow my posts, I welcome your thoughts about this new arrangement.

For the holidays I traveled with my friend to visit his family in Texas and to spend some time investigating interesting places. We left Tucson on December 13 and during most of the three weeks we were gone we were under cloud cover, rain, snow, cold, wet, uncomfortable weather. We carried a small portable electric heater so most of the time we used it when we had electricity. Last night however, we were stopped in our tracks on the highway by the worsening weather, and were forced to dry camp.

We left Fredericksburg, TX in the cold and wet, with freezing rain. As the day progressed the weather got worse. We were stuck on the highway for nearly an hour and a half waiting for an accident that we couldn’t see to be cleared. As we traveled we saw many tractor-trailers overturned, and a few cars that had slid off the road.

By the time we stopped around 5:00 p.m. a few miles west of Ft. Stockton it was clear that we had to pull off. We found a safe place off an exit to ‘nowhere’ and parked. It being New Year’s Day I quickly prepared the black-eyed peas and rice traditional dinner, turned on the small portable propane heater and we got into bed with multiple layers of sleeping bags and blankets.

When I looked out the window this morning I saw that we’d gotten some snow and there were many tractor-trailers and cars parked on the shoulders of the road and around the exit where we were. Another RV was parked next to us.

We were expecting to have a nice bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast; however, it seems that there is a leak in the trailer propane system, so we were out of propane. And we also had to hold our breath that we had enough gas to get to Van Horn, TX – luckily we did!

As the day progressed, and the miles passed the weather conditions changed frequently. From snow to freezing rain, to clear to fog, to windy, to not windy, to more snow, or rain, to sunshine, to snow again. It was a very chaotic weather pattern.

I made a video of the snow showers in Arizona; however, I wasn’t able to insert it in this post. Will learn more about that later!

We arrived home in Tucson about 5:30 p.m. and unloaded our stuff. It was a long day, but we arrived safely, with a story to tell!